Share

Education support

What's in this section?

In England, we offer expert, independent advice to help make sure children with sight loss are supported at school, and that they attend the nursery, school or college that’s right for them. In Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, we work closely with other charities to provide information and support around the education system.

The education system can be very complex. Finding out how to get specialist support that will meet a child’s individual needs and assisting them on their journey from nursery to further or higher education can be daunting for parents and carers.

Our Education Support team is on hand to help children and young people with sight loss to get the best from their education. The support we offer is particularly valuable to help children and young people move smoothly and confidently from one stage of education to another.

We can assist with identifying a suitable nursery, school or college, and provide confidential advice around a child’s statutory rights. We explain complex terms and help with processes and forms. We’re also experienced at liaising with professionals on families’ behalf if needed.

The Education Support team give advice to professionals such as teachers and those involved in special education. There is also a close link to the Access Technology team who can advise about the most helpful assistive and adaptive equipment and to CustomEyes large books who can provide large print books for schools.

Do you need help?

Looking around a nursery, school or college

Finding the right educational setting for you or your child is an important task and one which takes time, so it’s worth doing your research to ensure that you get it right. If you or your child has an additional need such as a vision impairment, early planning is key to finding a setting that can successfully meet individual needs.

This guide offers ideas about what to look for during your visit. It is by no means an exhaustive list, but it does provide a useful start.

For further help and guidance on what to look out for, or for help on what questions to ask, please contact the Education Team and one of the Specialist Education Support Officers will be pleased to help.

Education health and care plans

Most children and young people with a Special Educational Need (SEN) will have all of their needs met using the resources and arrangements available in their early years, school or college setting. However, there are some children and young people who may require further additional support in the form of an Education, Health and Care plan or ‘EHCP’.

This guide will help you to understand what an EHC plan is; how to request an EHC needs assessment; what to do should your Local Authority turn you down for an assessment and/or what steps to take should your Local Authority agree to an assessment.

For further help and guidance during any stage of this process, please contact a member of the team who will be happy to help and offer specialist advice.

Annual reviews

For those children and young people with complex needs who have an Education Health and Care plan (EHCP), a process of review will need to take place to ensure that the EHCP remains up-to-date and relevant to the child or young person. This review process is called an annual review.

This guide will help you to understand what an annual review is; how an annual review should be conducted and how you can ensure that you are an integral part of you and your child’s annual review meeting.

Please don’t hesitate to contact the Education Team to speak to one of the Specialist Education Support Officers for more help and support on what questions to ask and how to get the most out of you or your child’s annual review meeting.

Disabled Student Allowance (DSA) – For students with a vision impairment

This is a brief document talking you through the steps you may wish to follow when beginning a new course at university or college at Higher Education (HE) level.

Your actual journey may not take this exact pathway, but the guide does mention the key people you will need to liaise with, in order to get this assistance in place, to alleviate potential barriers to your educational experience.

Remember, this is simply general advice and guidance and the Guide Dogs Specialist Education Team are here to offer you advice specific to your needs. For further help and guidance on what to look out for, or for help on what questions to ask, please contact the Education Team and one of the Specialist Education Support Officers will be pleased to help.

Examination board resource

This is a fun quiz talking through some of the common issues of concern during this stressful period.

This outlines who is responsible for your examination concessions, what types of concessions you could be entitled to and what your educational provider may be able to also offer to make your examinations as problem free as possible.

Centrally, this document should demonstrate to you that examinations should be an extension of the work you complete on a day to day basis and that you should be preparing for this during your normal in-class learning.

Remember, this is simply general advice and guidance and the Guide Dogs Specialist Education Team are here to offer you advice specific to your needs. For further help and guidance on what to look out for, or for help on what questions to ask, please contact the Education Team and one of the Specialist Education Support Officers will be pleased to help.

Jargon busting: common phrases in special educational needs

Roles of people working with children and young people with special educational needs

In education, various professionals work with children and young people, some based in the school, others are from the local authorities or from the local hospitals but they can often work together in the education environment. This information sheet identifies these professionals and their roles.

Sign up to our email updates

Connect with Guide Dogs

Guide Dogs is a working name of The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. Registered Office: Hillfields, Burghfield Common, Reading, Berkshire RG7 3YG. A company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (291646) and a charity registered in England and Wales (209617) and Scotland (SC038979)